The present invention relates to dental implant structures, and in particular to adjustable modular components for securing dentures and dental bridges for oral prosthetics.
As shown in FIG. 1, prosthetic dental bridges 10 and foundations 12 for such bridges 10 are known to firmly attach dentures to hard dental tissue, such as the jawbone 14 or tooth stubs by an implanted support. In particular, the dental bridge 10 may be securely mounted to implanted screw posts 16, or other known securing mechanisms. Such foundations 12 are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,575,651 and 5,788,492, each of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The foundations 12 described in the aforecited patents were considered a major advance over the earlier art, in that they avoided the original lengthy process of providing large implants, requiring many months to heal, and attached to a denture which also required great care and time. However, these earlier advances were originally intended as temporary devices for use until the permanent implants healed. It has since been recognized that permanent implants can be formed utilizing the slender screw implants of these two patents. However, these devices sometimes created problems when worn for extended periods. They lacked the capability of easy removal and replacement, and could cause irritation to the patient because of the difficulty of obtaining a proper fit to the jawbone and opposing teeth and gums, or other soft dental tissue.
Thus, a need continued to exist for a system which would permit the placement of a long-lasting dental prosthesis in a patient""s mouth by chairside techniques available to the family dentist. Such a system should provide components for mounting such prosthesis which may be secured to the hard dental tissue, such as the jawbone, in a relatively short time, which may be adjusted or prophylactically cleaned or repaired at a later date, and which is readily adaptable to the natural variations in the size and shape of ridges in the bones so as to provide for more comfortable use of any dentures secured on such prostheses.
A chairside prosthesis foundation includes a plurality of screw implants, each having an intermediate platform portion and an interconnectable top distal from the screw portion, with modular components which can be connected to a group of aligned screw implants and which can be subsequently adjusted to fit a range of jaw ridge sizes and locked in position with self-curing resin. The interconnectable top permits relative ease in adjustment or removal of the screw, if necessary, and provides for the connection between the implants and the modular components. Such modular components are secured in the jaw efficiently and relatively easily, and may be adjusted at a later date, to conform to any variations in the size or shape of ridges in the jaw, rendering more comfortable to the wearer the dentures secured on such implants and modular components.
The interconnected implants and modular components are preferably further reinforced and locked together by a cured resin composition, such as a self-curing resin well known to dentists. The assembled modular components locked into place by the, e.g., hardened resin, becomes the foundation, referred to as a xe2x80x9csplintxe2x80x9d, upon which tooth forms/synthetic teeth may be supported. The tooth forms may be created at chairside, once the splint is in place, to provide a patient with a prompt replacement of missing teeth.